English Level 4 (Years 5 and 6)
Learning focus
As students work towards the achievement of Level 4 standards in English, they consolidate and build on their foundational learning in English related to texts and language.
Students compose, comprehend and respond to an expanding range of texts in print and audiovisual and electronic forms that contain increasingly unfamiliar concepts, themes, information and issues. With guidance, they reflect on reading, viewing, writing, speaking and listening in ways that develop considered and critical approaches to a range of texts. These include extended literary texts such as novels, short stories, poetry and non-fiction; everyday texts; and media texts including newspapers, film and websites.
Students explore the relationship between the purpose and audience of texts and their structures and features, for example: sentence and paragraph structure, grammar, figurative language and organising structures in print texts; features of visual texts; and sound effects, characterisation and camera angles used in film. They develop their knowledge of how texts are constructed for particular purposes, and examine and challenge generalisations and simplistic portrayals of people and social and cultural issues. They learn how to draw evidence from texts to support their points of view. They experiment with several strategies when interpreting texts containing some unfamiliar ideas and information, for example, reading on, using diagrams, and differentiating between statements of fact or opinion.
Students write texts for a range of purposes that demonstrate their developing understanding of the way imagery, characterisation, dialogue, point of view, plot and setting contribute to the meaning of written and multimodal texts. They use this reflection, and their developing knowledge of the generic structures of different types of texts (such as narratives, reports and arguments), as the basis for composing an increasing range of written and spoken texts. Students become more systematic in their use of strategies for writing (including note-making, using models, planning, editing and proofreading) and make decisions about appropriate structures and features of language in texts for different purposes and audiences. They develop terminology or metalanguage to talk about and describe particular structures and features of language. They develop a multi-strategy approach to spelling, applying morphemic knowledge and an understanding of visual and phonic patterns, and select vocabulary for precise meaning.
Students engage in exploratory talk to share and clarify their ideas, to formulate simple arguments and to seek the opinions of others. They participate in oral interactions for different purposes, including entertaining, informing and influencing others. Students learn to sustain a point of view, and provide succinct accounts of personal experiences or events.
They experiment with spoken language features such as pace, pitch and pronunciation to enhance meaning as they plan, rehearse and reflect on their presentations. They build their capacity to combine verbal and visual elements in texts to communicate ideas and information by using, for example, presentation software or overheads.
When listening, students practise identifying the main idea and supporting details of spoken texts and summarising them for others. They begin to identify opinions offered by others, propose other viewpoints, and extend ideas in a constructive manner.
National Statements of Learning
This learning focus statement, in conjunction with aspects of the Communication Level 4 learning focus statement, incorporates aspects of the Year 5 National Statement of Learning for English.
Standards
Reading
At Level 4, students read, interpret and respond to a wide range of literary, everyday and media texts in print and in multimodal formats. They analyse these texts and support interpretations with evidence drawn from the text. They describe how texts are constructed for particular purposes, and identify how sociocultural values, attitudes and beliefs are presented in texts. They analyse imagery, characterisation, dialogue, point of view, plot and setting. They use strategies such as reading on, using contextual cues, and drawing on knowledge of text organisation when interpreting texts containing unfamiliar ideas and information.
Writing
At Level 4, students produce, in print and electronic forms, a variety of texts for different purposes using structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience and context of the writing. They begin to use simple figurative language and visual images. They use a range of vocabulary, a variety of sentence structures, and use punctuation accurately, including apostrophes. They identify and use different parts of speech, including nouns, pronouns, adverbs, comparative adverbs and adjectives, and use appropriate prepositions and conjunctions. They use a range of approaches to spelling, applying morphemic knowledge and an understanding of visual and phonic patterns. They employ a variety of strategies for writing, including note-making, using models, planning, editing and proofreading.
Speaking and listening
At Level 4, students plan, rehearse and make presentations for different purposes. They sustain a point of view and provide succinct accounts of personal experiences or events. They adjust their speaking to take account of context, purpose and audience, and vary tone, volume and pace of speech to create or emphasise meaning.
When listening to spoken texts, they identify the main idea and supporting details and summarise them for others. They identify opinions offered by others, propose other relevant viewpoints and extend ideas in a constructive manner.
Year 7 National Literacy Benchmarks
The benchmarks describe minimum standards. For this reason, the Year 7 benchmarks relate to Level 4 English standards. Links to the literacy benchmarks are located at Curriculum Corporation.
Downloads
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English booklet (
PDF - 255KB) - English standards table (Doc - 51KB)
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Victorian Essential Learning Standards Level 4 ( PDF - 751KB)
